young annoyed female freelancer using laptop at home

‘Endemic’ covers a lot of biology, but we’re probably not there yet for COVID-19

Posted onJanuary 2, 2023January 2, 2023

Right up front, I’m going to repeat myself by saying that I think COVID-19 will become a disease that has endemic as well as epidemic states at some point in Read More …

Whatever happened to communication?

Posted onJuly 24, 2022July 25, 2022

I’m not an expert in many things. But I’m enough of a scientist to conclude with confidence that what’s happening now with COVID-19 in Australia and in many other countries Read More …

Masks matter for more than mandates

Posted onJuly 7, 2022July 26, 20222 Comments

The amount of virus per amount of snot, air, monkey or whatever is a way to describe the concentration of virus present in that thing. It might seem intuitive to Read More …

An early & big flu rise in Australia

Posted onJune 7, 2022June 8, 2022

Influenza (flu) cases have been rising rapidly in Australia this year. Some see this as a result of waning immunity during our border closures. Some see this as the harbinger Read More …

BA.2.12.1 is on the rise in New York…

Posted onMay 2, 2022May 2, 2022

A recently named sub-strain represents the latest twist in the ongoing evolution of SARS-CoV-2. It’s currently active in the United States and looks to be very capable of spreading, outpacing Read More …

Unexplained hepatitis: severe liver inflammation among young children

Posted onApril 25, 2022May 11, 20221 Comment

Uncharacterised and so far rare cases of unexplained severe liver inflammation among young children. These cases of unexplained hepatitis have been appearing in elevated numbers worldwide since November 2021. The Read More …

Lockdowns had a role: they saved lives

Posted onApril 18, 2022April 18, 2022

There are threats and lists and all manner of abuse aimed at those who promoted or supported measures that saved lives during the COVID-19 pandemic. I just want to make Read More …

Super-cold or a silly headline?

Posted onApril 15, 2022April 17, 2022

In Australia, there seem to be a bunch of articles talking about “super-colds”. Please stop calling them this. They are just colds caused by one or more of the many Read More …

Arrrrr on the rise (Rhinovirus, RSV and RATs)

Posted onMarch 19, 2022March 26, 2022

Anecdotally there are a lot of acute respiratory virus infections ripping through the community where I live. Particularly noticeable in schools but also workplaces. Yes, there is SARS-CoV-2 among these Read More …

Thank goodness we did all the work

Posted onJanuary 29, 2022July 16, 20226 Comments

Thank goodness we didn’t hold off on opening up to see what Omicron was capable of. We had to have Christmas. And there were national cabinet agreements. Anyway, how could Read More …

Living next door to Alice

Posted onJanuary 3, 2022July 24, 20222 Comments

I mean, who wants to say “living with COVID” amirite? The connotation is that it’s just a necessary thing we have to do. But really, at some point, it kind Read More …

Ireland and the vaccinated hospitalised-it ain’t what it looks like

Posted onNovember 6, 2021November 7, 20213 Comments

The media have again become fixated on the higher number of COVID-19 fully-vaccinated people in Irish hospitals and ICUs – but when you apply a little mathematics, it’s clear that Read More …

WHO to new PCR users: read the damned manual!

Posted onJanuary 23, 2021January 23, 20218 Comments

The World Health Organization (WHO) recently published (14th Dec 2020, then updated 20th Jan 2021) a piece of advice for laboratories testing for SARS-CoV-2 using PCR. The advice boils down: Read More …

Putting PCR into real-time

Posted onJanuary 2, 2021January 2, 20216 Comments

Three letters have been very busy in 2020: P. C. and R. The Polymerase Chain Reaction. It’s a tiny, thermally controlled, cyclical, enzyme-driven, chemical reaction which lets scientists identify the Read More …

The mechanics of the polymerase chain reaction (PCR)…a primer

Posted onDecember 28, 2020December 28, 2020

The polymerase chain reaction (PCR) is a technique for copying a piece of DNA a billion-fold. As the name suggests, the process creates a chain of many pieces, in this Read More …

Virology Down Under

Facts, data, info, expert opinion and a reasonable, occasionally grumpy, voice on viruses: what they are, how they tick and the illnesses they may cause.

Latest posts...

Masks matter for more than mandates

An early & big flu rise in Australia

The Swiss cheese infographic that went viral

Whatever happened to communication?

‘Endemic’ covers a lot of biology, but we’re probably not there yet for COVID-19

Whatever happened to communication?

Masks matter for more than mandates

An early & big flu rise in Australia

BA.2.12.1 is on the rise in New York…

Unexplained hepatitis: severe liver inflammation among young children

Lockdowns had a role: they saved lives

Super-cold or a silly headline?

Arrrrr on the rise (Rhinovirus, RSV and RATs)

Thank goodness we did all the work

Living next door to Alice

Ireland and the vaccinated hospitalised-it ain’t what it looks like

WHO to new PCR users: read the damned manual!

Putting PCR into real-time

The mechanics of the polymerase chain reaction (PCR)…a primer